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Sous Vide Salmon: Keep It Simple

On the evening of May the Fourth, I was reminded by most glorious spousal unit that we needed to prepare something to tote with us over to a friend-packed gathering on the Fifth. I’d, of course, spaced the thing completely and didn’t wish to endure the cold stares of my friends who wouldn’t be amused by my feeble-mindedness. I set to pondering.

Somehow or another, my ponderings led me to a recipe for Citrus Marinated Salmon — a Thomas Keller creation — that I’ve prepared on several occasions for the well-heeled and snooty. This gathering was much more low key: an afternoon assembly of a dozen or so folks that enjoy playing guerrilla bocce in direct sunlight whilst consuming their fair shares of wine.

Thinking about the basic flavor elements of that somewhat complex Thomas Keller offering, I decided to keep it simple.

Of course, I needed some fresh salmon. Most glorious spousal unit and I decided that an early trip to Costco would lead to a solution for that and several other of our grocery-shopping needs. I selected a four pound, fully deboned fresh Atlantic salmon.

This baby was about 21 inches long and about 1-1/4″ thick and smelled perfectly clean. Not even a hint of fish funk was detected by my overly sensitive olfactory system.

Patting it dry with paper towels, I began the seasoning process by slicing the end off a lime, placing it cut end down upon the fish, and allowing it to glide freely over the entire surface, occasionally giving the lime a squeeze to promote the oozing of juice.

The acidity of the lime juice will turn some of the surface area of the salmon a lighter shade of pink as it “cooks” the flesh. It’s also infusing the fish with it’s inherent limey-ness. I liberally sprinkled on some salt, going heavier over the thicker (amidfish) portions of flesh and lighter over the thinner (aft and keel) portions. I applied some fresh ground black pepper in the same manner.

I gave the raw fish a taste and thought I needed a bit more citrusy goodness to better mimic that in the Keller recipe. Looking around the kitchen, I noticed my several jars of homemade citrus liqueurs. These are simply jars of orange and grapefruit peelings covered in cognac, vodka, or tequila, and allowed to stand for weeks and months. The alcohol becomes infused with the citrus oils which flavors it substantially. If you don’t make your own citrus liqueurs, Cointreau or triple-sec will work, too.

I poured about an ounce of orange-flavored cognac into a bowl and brushed it on the fillet.

Here the salmon is bagged and submerged into my sous vide rig. Notice that it was so large, about a three inch section of the tail end is curved up; my sous vide rig only accommodates 18″.

In the Keller recipe, the salmon is poached in 110°F olive oil. In my version, I set the water temp at 120°F. The salmon equalized to this temperature in about 40 minutes. I transported the salmon in a cooler filled with the very same sous vide water.

At the party, I displayed the ultra-tender salmon full-length on a platter, accenting it with dill weed and cucumber slices. The three sauces, left to right, are: dill and creme fraiche, basil and horseradish, and basil and garlic aioli. All are super easy to prepare.

Basil and Horseradish: Equal parts heavy cream, mayo, and horseradish with chopped fresh basil and a spritz of lemon juice. Teaspoon of soy sauce. Splash of red wine vinegar. Salt and pepper and a pinch of ginger powder to taste. Pulsed in a mini food processor.

Despite the utter simplicity, or perhaps because of it, the bulk of the salmon was quickly devoured to some rave reviews. Cold stares successfully avoided.

One last note: To our hosts, fellow cooks, and wine suppliers — great friends all — I give my thanks for gatherings such as these as they are a great part of what brings joy and happiness to our lives.

The Best Things in Life Should be Shared!

About johngl

A bit of a wildman, John hails from the Midwest: A land of corn, cows, pigs, and a host of other healthfully meaty pursuits.
Born on a dark and stormy night in late Fall, John grew up as the son of a meat cutter. There was always plenty of meat at hand. While not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, his family certainly ate well. According to his father, that was the whole point.

BigD! What a wonderful surprise! I had to re-read the post to get to the time and place of the event. I knew I wrote this stuff for a reason! It was a great day and I greatly look forward to a time in the future when we can all get together again! I hope you are well! Thanks for popping in!